Month: November 2006

THE dominance of Kilrush crime during the recent sittings of the Circuit Court in Clare does not reflect reality, according to a solicitor based in the town.

The overwhelming majority of cases heard over the past month dealt with crime in Kilrush and surrounding areas.

The trend, according to a senior Garda source, underlines the fact that west Clare is “the crime capital of the county.”

During the sittings, two young men were jailed for three years each for arson – one incident occurred near Kilkee and the other in Kilrush – another was jailed for four years for damaging cars in Kilrush. A young man was handed down a three-year sentence for dangerous driving causing the death of two Kilkee girls, at Carrigaholt.

Another man was given a suspended sentence for throwing a block through a neighbour’s home in Kilrush, as part of a dispute.

Two trials that took place during the Circuit Court sittings resulted in acquittals for Kilrush accused.

Superintendent Joe McKeown said the jail sentences handed down at the Circuit Court should remind people that crime will not be tolerated in Kilrush.

“I think it sends out a message to people that if they commit crime and are caught, they will be facing hefty sentences,” he said.

However, Kilrush-based solicitor Eugene O’Kelly pointed out that the trend during these Circuit Court sittings didn’t necessarily reflect reality.

“The recent court list included quite a number of cases from the Kilrush area that for one reason or other got backed up over a long period of time.

“The fact that the cases have come together is more coincidental than proof that Kilrush has a monopoly on anti-social behaviour.

“I accept there are problems, but we should not just look at the court statistics, but at the underlying factors of deprivation, unemployment and social exclusion,” said Mr O’Kelly.

“The gardaí, the social services and Éirí Corca Baiscinn are all working now in a very co-ordinated way to tackle these issues and that is positive.

“Great work has been done in the John Paul Estate in rejuvenating community spirit,” he said.

“I do think matters are improving. There is a decrease in the number of public order matters in the District Court,” he said.

A MOVE by Shannon-based pharmaceutical firm, Schwarz Pharma to shut down production for a three month period last year in response to local concerns over air emissions contributed to an overall loss of €34 million for the company in 2005.

According to accounts filed to the Companies Office, the Germanbased firm suffered an operating loss of €11.4 million following a profit of €5.9 million in 2004.

In March 2005, the company suspended production that could give rise to emissions exceeding the levels in its Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) granted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In February of this year at Ennis Circuit Court, the company pleaded guilty to a series of environmental breaches resulting in them being fined €152,350 including costs.

According to a statement accompanying the company’s accounts: “The outgoing year was a year which saw a number of events come together to account for the loss incurred, namely production downtime associated with plant shutdown from March to June of 2005 in order to implement new environmental emissions control systems and a sales reduction from the discontinuance of a number of product lines.

“In addition significant development and launch costs were incurred for a number of new products launched during the year.”

The accounts show that the parent company has contributed €150 million over 2004 and 2005 and that significant investment is needed “to ensure the company has adequate capacity and upgraded infrastructure to manufacture and supply the new products going forward.”

The accounts show that the company’s turnover was down from €42.8 million in 2005 to €35.4 million in 2004 and the cost of sales increased to €38.1 million in 2005 from €31.7 million in 2004.

The overall loss of €34 million is due to €8 million in interest payable and other charges, and €17 million towards a non-operating expense.

The loss of €34 million has resulted in the company’s retained profits of €32 million at the start of 2005 becoming a loss of €2.5 million at year end.

The accounts also show that the numbers employed at Schwarz Pharma reduced from 222 to 180 at the end of 2005 with the staff costs being reduced from €11.6 million to €10.3 million in 2005.

The accounts also show that the value of the company’s intangible assets increased from €377 million from €222 million in 2004.

CLARE Fine Gael is in crisis this week after Deputy Pat Breen embroiled two of his general election running mates in a libel action against a national newspaper.

With just months to a general election, Deputy Breen has instigated legal proceedings against The Irish Examiner arising from critical comments by Cllr Madeleine Taylor Quinn and Cllr Joe Carey on his tabling of a Dáil question inquiring into the possible early release of convicted sex offender Joseph Nugent.

Last night Deputy Breen failed to respond to calls from one of Nugent’s victims to apologise for tabling the question.

The man, who is now 47-years-old, confirmed he was admitted to hospital because of the stress brought on by the publicity surrounding Mr. Breen’s Dail question.

The Irish Examiner has been told by Deputy Breen’s solicitor, Gearoid Howard, that the article “constitutes a most grievous libel of Mr Breen and that there are no circumstances under which the question tabled by Mr Breen could have constituted a representation on behalf of a paedophile”.

Deputy Breen is now seeking a withdrawal of the alleged libel, an apology, damages and payment of his legal costs.

And in a move that will further throw Fine Gael’s already fraught general election campaign into disarray, Deputy Breen has indicated that he may sue Cllr Taylor Quinn and Cllr Carey as part of his legal case.

Deputy Breen wants The Irish Examiner to set out the basis for their article “in the event that legal proceedings are necessary” and that the “necessary wrong-doers” are identified “so that they may be all sued in the one set of proceedings”.

The sources quoted in the article that are critical of Deputy Breen are Cllr Taylor Quinn and Cllr Carey.

When contacted by The Clare People last evening, both councillors said they had no contact from anyone in relation to the matter and had not received any solicitor’s letter to date.

The paper also attempted to contact Deputy Breen but was unable to get a response.

Calls to party leader Enda Kenny also proved fruitless.